Osteoporosis in Patients With a Low-Energy Fracture: 3 Years of Screening in an Osteoporosis Outpatient Clinic

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of osteoporosis in the Netherlands is 52 per 1,000 men and 166 per 1,000 women (age >55 years). Previous results of an osteoporosis screening program showed that 55%, 41%, and 37.1% had osteoporosis. This study aims to evaluate the incidence of osteoporosis after low-energy fractures and to describe the care program for osteoporosis screening. The second endpoint was to investigate the incidence of risk factors in the whole study population and a subgroup analysis from the three major groups with osteoporotic fractures. METHODS: All female and male patients older than 50 years with a low-energy fracture were included for the osteoporosis screening program. Patients with a fracture of the vertebrae were also included if the age was less than 50 years. All patients underwent a bone mineral density measurement by means of dual-energy X-ray film absorptiometry. All obtained data were registered by a nurse specialist in osteoporosis, in a computerized database. RESULTS: The incidence of osteoporosis in patients with low-energy fractures is high, 46.4%. At the time of fracture presentation, there were 33.2% of the patients with a low body weight (<67 kg), almost all osteoporotic patients (96%) had a low-energy fracture occurred after their 50th year. In patients diagnosed with osteoporosis, the hip fracture is the most common fracture site (34%), followed by the humerus (20.1%). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, a screening program for osteoporosis is necessary and should be a tool in the armamentarium of every traumatology department.